Red Head Redemption (SALVO/INV)

If there was one thing that really eased Salvo's nerves and calmed her down after a foiled job, it was a successful job. And, luckily, Earth was a planet that was host to all sorts of crops and goods that were considered delicacies across the rest of the universe. Food items like corn, potatoes, grapes, while commonplace on Earth and sold for little, were treasure troves to be bartered for pounds upon pounds of Zeni on arid, dry planets that couldn't grow their own supplies like Arcose - though, Arcose tended to be a planet Salvo avoided, personally, given its whole Empire thing.

Earth was free to ransack as she pleased, though, so long as she stayed out of the major cities. And so, Salvo had tracked down a farmland in the Eastern Pastures of the planet that looked ripe for plundering! With no strong power levels anywhere nearby, this would be the perfect spot to get in, kill the farmhands, take what she wanted, and then get out!

Thus did her massive ship blot out the very sun in the sky over the crop fields, and slowly did it descend onto the plains, its massive displacement of air blasting debris and powerful gusts out in every direction until it finally came to a stop just beside a dainty little farmhouse and silo that were both utterly dwarfed in size. A loud hissing sound echoed from the ship's hydraulics as it settled into place, and its belly fell open into a cargo ramp that led directly into its loading bay. And from that ramp, out strutted Salvo and her men, a grin on her face as she eagerly looked around for what was theirs for the taking.

"A'right, lads!" she called out to her crew. "Take wotever isn't nailed down! Hell, rip free th' stuff that is nailed down! Leave nothin' an' no one standin'! And-" Salvo paused as she looked down at one of the farmhands in the field just a few dozen meters away from where the ship had docked. She looked awfully familiar... Wait a minute, that was...!

"You!" Salvo angrily growled as her red eyes focused on the opposing redhead. "Wot th' 'ell are you doin' out 'ere? An' gimme back me hat!" All this time, Salvo may have been barking orders with her dashing blue coat, but her hat had been noticeably absent - where it once sat was simply the orange top of her head and a messy, curled cowlick that no amount of hair gel could keep down.

Tch. Salvo held a firm glare as the Earthling Jackie waltzed up to her, daring to act in defiance of the captain directly in front of her crew. Any other person in the galaxy would've immediately found Salvo's gun pressed directly against their forehead, and a moment later, they would have heard a bang, and then felt nothing at all, ever again. This one, though... Well, Salvo may have been bold and brash, but she was no idiot. As Jackie flared her power up to its unrestrained height, Salvo quite clearly sensed the... Disparity between the two of them. 

So, she simply held her firm gaze with Jackie, her arms crossed and her stance tall, until the other redhead had finally finished speaking. Lucky for Jackie, Salvo would let that little poke to her chest go without retaliation for now, but that'd soon change for the Earthling if she dared lay another finger on the Heran.

A silence filled the air as Salvo maintained her firm gaze with Jackie, until she finally spoke. "Boys! Back in th' ship," she ordered them. "I'll be dealin' wit' this one meself." Her men, though hesitant, obeyed, and slowly, they began to trickle back into the gargantuan vessel, murmurs of discontent among them, until finally, it was just Jackie and Salvo outside, with Salvo's ship's ramp slowly retracting behind her until its belly had closed itself back up.

Now that they were alone... Salvo's firm gaze dropped, and she reached forward with both hands, gripping Jackie by her shoulders as a panicked facial expression took over the serious one, an unusual sight to see on the Heran's face. "Listen, that hat 'a mine is real important. Me hair... It's... Untamable! I've tried all kinds 'a tonics and sprays from 'cross th' galaxy. Nothin' keeps th' top 'a me head from frayin' out in all directions. I need th' hat or I always look like I jus' got outta bed. An' me crew don't respect me wit'out it, neither! Wot good's a pirate captain wit'out a hat t' prove who they are? I'm beggin' ye here. Ye gotta give me th' hat back!"

Oh, great. Why'd this Earthling have to go and be difficult? If the tides were swapped and it was Salvo's power that had eclipsed Jackie's, this wouldn't even be a conversation! Salvo would have just pounded the Earthling silly, taken back her hat, and then been on her merry way. But, loathe as she was to admit it, if even Lottus couldn't quite break through the defenses of the woman standing before her, then Salvo really didn't stand much of a chance at all - the key to survival as a pirate was knowing how to pick your battles, and it was plain that this would be a losing one.

That being said... She still really, really needed that hat back. "Oh, c'mon!" Salvo groaned in protest as Jackie stepped away and insisted she had no reason to return it. "I got th' big guy to leave, didn't I? If he weren't so focused on whiskin' me outta thar, he'd have started pulverizin' buildings left 'n right! Ye should be thanking me fer being th' reason th' casualty count is as low as it is!" Sure, she'd technically been trying to encourage him to stay and kill even more, but they didn't need to bring up the semantic details like that.

"Besides, I ain't even killed anyone! Not in that fight, anyhow. I jus' showed up, talked some big talk, showed ye a cool trick with me pistol, then got meself yanked outta thar! That demonic fella who raised all th' dead is th' real baddie!" Salvo... Didn't even know that guy's name, truthfully. She'd just been following Lottus, who presumably knew more about that guy.

"An' look, if ye really wanted t' fight, I know ye still wouldn't! Thar's a bunch 'a Earthlings placed around 'ere. No way ye'd be able to keep 'em all safe from stray blasts an' th' like. An' lemme tell ye, I may not win our fight, but I'll still put up a hell 'a a fight." It wasn't necessarily a threat, in Salvo's opinion... More of a practical observation. Jackie struck Salvo as the type to care about those beneath her. Hell, she was doing farm work for some average Joes. "So, c'mon lass, jus' hand o'er th' hat and I'll be on me way. Won't do any more pillagin' fer the time being. Deal?"

"Tch," Salvo annoyedly clicked her tongue as Jackie revealed she had a, perhaps, more accurate recounting of the events that had unfolded over Central City. "Tis... Semantics, or wotever they call it," was Salvo's only real rebuttal. "Besides, ye were th' one wot started pullin' on me 'air. That ain't cool, ye know! How would ye like it if I started yankin' on that orange mop ye got up top, there?" Salvo retorted, her hands placed on her hips as she leaned in close to argue with Jackie, who had taken on a similar combative stance.

It was starting to seem like this would only escalate further until the two came to blows, with Jackie calling her bluff about the civilians... Until the Earthling instead proposed something... Else. "Eh?" Salvo leaned back and widened her eyes, her brow raising as her hands dropped from her sides. "Ye want me to wot?" she asked, unsure if she'd heard the woman right. Jackie wanted Salvo to... Help out? With the farmers? Socialize with the people she'd been about to pillage? ...What?

"Are ye half mad?" Salvo asked, "I be the Pirate Captain Salvo, Scourge 'a th' Four Galaxies! And ye want me t' roll up me sleeves and do farmin' work fer a bunch 'a local Earthlings?" It wasn't like it'd be hard... With Salvo's strength, she could lift an entire tractor, let alone just plow a few fields. It was more the principle of the thing. Someone of her status and reputation shouldn't be caught dead doing charity work like that! Her men would never let her hear the end of it! They'd lose all respect for her!

And yet... Was this really the only way Salvo could get her hat back? Something told her that Jackie wasn't interested in any material trade, either - all the riches on Salvo's ship were probably less valuable to the Earthling than holding this point of her pride over her head. "...Pare," Salvo suddenly said after a few moments of silence, speaking into a communication device pinned to the inside of her collar that she was now holding down a button on. "Pull th' ship into th' atmosphere and leave me be 'ere. This could get ugly - don't want any 'a th' boys gittin' caught in th' crossfire."

Just a few moments later, the gargantuan ship's thrusters activated, with the massive vessel slowly ascending high into the sky, before it blasted off far beyond where Salvo or Jackie could see it. And, once the two of them were alone, Salvo folded her arms, averting her eyes with embarrassment. "Okay, let's say I... Did a bit 'a farm work. Wot exactly does that entail...?"

Did life mean nothing to Salvo? ...That was a good question. More or less? She'd certainly not felt too bad about killing anyone since her parents had her get her first kills in at the age of six. She'd not slept so well after those, but gradually, killing others weighed less and less on her conscience until she'd felt nothing about the act at all. It was as simple as plucking hairs out of her eyebrows, and required about as much afterthought. Still, that probably wasn't the answer Jackie was looking for. And, she supposed there was at least one life she valued: her own!

And, well, here they went. Jackie really did want Salvo to roll up her sleeves and do farm work. What a pain in the arse. "Ugh..." Salvo groaned in defeat. Was it really worth all this just to get her stinking hat back? ...Maybe not in monetary value, but that hat was important to her. It represented a lot about her status as a pirate, and it wasn't something she could just buy a replacement for. It was one of a kind!

"Fine," Salvo reluctantly agreed. "I ain't promisin' any sort 'a character change outta all this, though! I won't shoot or stab anyone we meet while we're on th' job, 'n I'll do wot ye tell me to, but that's as far as I can swear meself to!" Salvo would make no such promises that she'd ever change for the better. She was fairly well aware of how despicable she was, and she somewhat reveled in it. If Jackie wanted to try and change her, she was more than welcome to, but Salvo certainly doubted that doing a few hours of charity work would leave some sort of deep, fundamental impact on her psyche.

"...How long is it until sunset, anyhow?" Salvo had to ask. "Every planet's got different day lengths. ...This ain't one a' them planets that has days longer 'n years, is it?" If the answer was yes, no way in hell was Salvo sticking around for that long! She'd put in a few hours, max!

Seven or eight hours?! That was practically all day! "Wha-" Salvo stammered, "Yer crazy if ye think I'm stickin' around fer..." Yet, somehow, she managed to do something she oh, so rarely ever did. She paused and took a breath. It was just one day's work, that was all. She was basically seeing what it was like to do a regular person's job, for once. Regular folk were such sticks up the arse, though... Surely any of them would rather do the sorts of things that Salvo did instead, were they ever given the opportunity and the strength it required.

"Well, I knew ye got yer arses handed to ye by Fukushu some years back," Salvo stated as Jackie asked her about her Earth knowledge. "Though he went and got 'imself killed by th' Empire if I heard correctly... Other 'n that, I see Earthlings out in space here 'n there, but I ain't so acquainted wit' yer planet. Has a bit 'a a reputation fer bein' filled with weaklings who ain't even worth steppin' on." Salvo grinned at Jackie to see if she had incited some sort of reaction out of her - she hadn't exactly been making that up, though, Jackie may have been incredibly powerful for an Earthling, but on the whole... Their species didn't pack much punch.

Salvo glanced over at the farmer who had called out to them with a glare, her harsh crimson eyes seeming as though they were analyzing every which way she could strike him down where he stood and reduce him to burnt up ash, but she refrained from any such motion. Instead, she simply took to the skies and followed right after Jackie, the pair flying over the bland, uneventful landscapes of Earth until they finally came to a stop at some other run-down, raggedy shack. 

As Jackie got all friendly with the old woman that came out to greet them, Salvo simply stood with a slight scowl on her face and a pair of crossed arms, hardly one to exchange pleasantries herself. Before long, though, many pairs of eyes descended upon the Heran, and the old woman even dared ask who Jackie's 'friend' was. 

There were many things Salvo could have said in response to an insult like insinuating she and the Earthling were friends... Though, surprisingly, the Heran's red lips spread into a grin, her eyes closing to match as she revealed her sharp, jagged teeth to the world. "Oh, you folks can call me Sally!" she cheerfully replied in a far different, almost Southern-sounding tone of voice, compared to the harsh, highly mispronounced manner of speech she usually spoke in. "Jackie and I are happy to be helping you kind folks out! We'll be sure to take care of your chores, then get out of your hair, alright?"

What had possessed Salvo to act in such a manner? Well... She really wanted that damn hat back. And she had a bad feeling if she didn't show some 'proper' hospitality, that damn Jackie was going to keep it from her. No way was she letting that happen.

Salvo may have been smiling even with her eyes on the surface, but deep down, she was boiling. Even just having to pretend to be some low-intelligence, whimsical goody two shoes really got under her skin in a bad way. This wasn't who she was! She was the Great Pirate Captain Salvo, Scourge of the Seven Galaxies! Not 'Sally,' the humble farmhand. And yet, she carried on with the charade, nonchalantly nodding along as she and Jackie had their chores for the next while explained to them. Clearing out bushes and other crap on the farm? At least something like that hardly required a delicate hand.

Once the lowly farmers broke off a bit to discuss their plans for food, Jackie turned to Salvo and explained what they had to do in greater detail. Salvo lowered her brow and frowned. "I know wot they said," she replied, her voice immediately returning back to its old, rugged tone now that the other Earthlings weren't listening in. "Luckily fer these bastards, I happen t' like rippin' things outta th' ground and burnin' 'em. So I'll go along wit' it. Don't expect me t' be all too delicate wit' their precious wood, though."

Salvo would make no promises about the quality of her work - she was far more interested in squeezing what fun could be had out of the situation, with little in her mind left to care about whether she did a 'good job' or not. What did she care about the opinions of a bunch of farmers, anyhow? 

The Heran turned to face the farms. "Makin' a sport out of it, ye said?" she asked, echoing Jackie's earlier suggestion. "Aye, I can do that." And, in an instant, Salvo had blasted off through the air! She careened headfirst into the dry undergrowth of the untended farmland, her hands rapidly ripping up and grabbing dead roots and plants out of the ground at faster speeds than most mortal eyes could keep up with, with most of them being tossed immediately behind her so far and fast up that they hurtled into Earth's atmosphere, where they near-immediately burnt to ashes and dust that would be carried away on the wind. As for the wooden, 'useful' material, it was chucked to the side in its own pile with such force that it began to create a burrow in the ground, though it at least didn't burst into flames.

Salvo was determined to get this done as fast as possible - and to beat Jackie at something in the process!